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Prices and features checked against official pages: October 2026.
Quick Answer
If your subscriber list lives in a spreadsheet and your newsletter goes out from a normal mailbox, three jobs stay manual: adding new addresses, removing people who unsubscribe or bounce, and working out what anyone read. An email marketing tool takes over all three. MailerLite is one option for a small business or solo operator: its pricing page lists embedded forms and pop-ups, a drag & drop editor, a visual automation builder, and click maps on every plan, and its help pages say unsubscribed recipients and hard bounces are removed from the active list automatically. Two limits decide the plan. The Free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, with 3 active automations of up to 5 steps. Past that, the Comfort plan is $12 per month billed monthly ($10.80 per month billed annually) for up to 500 subscribers and 5,000 monthly emails.
Start with MailerLite’s free plan
The pricing page lists the Free plan at $0 for up to 250 subscribers, with no credit card required.
Why Does a Spreadsheet-and-Mailbox Newsletter Break Down?
It breaks down because every list change depends on someone remembering to make it. A new customer has to be copied into the sheet. A reply that says “please remove me” has to be found and acted on before the next send. A bounced address stays in the sheet until someone notices the error message. Batches sent from a normal mailbox also give you no record of who opened the message or which link was clicked.
For a business with no marketing staff, the cost is more than time. Emailing someone who asked to be removed damages trust and can break anti-spam rules, and sending to dead addresses again and again hurts the chance that your next message reaches the inbox.
What Does “Solved” Look Like?
New subscribers add themselves through a form, and nobody copies addresses by hand. Newsletters are built from a saved template, and a short welcome sequence goes out on its own. Anyone who unsubscribes stops receiving email without you touching the list. After each send, you can see opens and clicks and decide what to write next.
What Does a Newsletter Setup Need?
It needs five things, whichever tool you choose:
- Signup forms and one place to manage the subscriber list
- Email templates and an editor for campaigns
- Automated email sequences, such as a welcome series
- Automatic handling of unsubscribes, bounces and consent
- Open and click reporting
How Does MailerLite Cover Each Need?
MailerLite lists forms, editors, automations, and reports on the Free plan, with allowances that grow on paid plans; a custom unsubscribe page and email support start on Comfort, and the plan for double opt-in and GDPR checkboxes is not confirmed on the pricing page. According to MailerLite’s pricing, feature and help pages:
| Need | How MailerLite handles it |
|---|---|
| Signup forms and list management | Embedded forms, pop-ups and promotion pop-ups are listed on every plan. Active forms are limited to 3 on Free and 10 on Comfort, and are unlimited on Power. Interest groups (tags) and dynamic segments are listed as unlimited on every plan. Existing lists can be imported from a CSV or TXT file or pasted from Excel. |
| Templates and a campaign editor | The drag & drop editor, the simple editor and the custom HTML editor are listed on every plan, and so is “Create your own template”. Ready-made newsletter templates are marked “Limited” on Free and are fully included on Comfort and Power. |
| Automated sequences | The visual automation builder and automation templates are listed on every plan. Free allows 3 active automations with up to 5 steps each; Comfort allows 50 with up to 100 steps; Power is unlimited with up to 100 steps. Multiple triggers for one automation are listed on Power only. |
| Unsubscribes, bounces and consent | MailerLite’s help pages say unsubscribed recipients are removed from the active list as soon as they unsubscribe, and that hard bounces and spam complaints are removed automatically. A campaign without an unsubscribe link cannot be sent. Double opt-in and GDPR checkboxes for pop-up forms are described on the signup forms page; the pricing table does not show which plan they belong to. The unsubscribe page builder and the subscriber preference center are listed on Comfort and Power, not on Free. |
| Open and click reporting | The reports page shows opened, clicked, unsubscribed, spam complaints and bounces for each campaign. Email click maps, comparative reporting and list growth reporting are listed on every plan. Custom date range reports and custom report exports are listed on Comfort and Power. |
Step 1: Import the List You Already Have
Bring your current subscribers in once, and only the people who agreed to hear from you. MailerLite’s import page accepts a CSV or TXT file or rows pasted from Excel, removes duplicate addresses, and asks you to make sure every subscriber has given consent. Before importing, delete the rows of anyone who asked to be removed in the past. The import page says addresses already marked unsubscribed or bounced in your account are not added again, which covers opt-outs recorded in MailerLite, not requests you received before you moved.
Step 2: Replace Manual Copying With a Signup Form
Create one embedded form for your website and stop adding addresses by hand. On Free you can keep 3 forms active; check in your account whether a pop-up counts as one of them. The signup forms page describes double opt-in, which adds a subscriber only after they click a confirmation link, and hidden fields that place new subscribers in a group from the start. If you email people in the EU, the same page describes built-in GDPR settings that add checkboxes and pre-written permissions to pop-up forms.
Step 3: Build One Reusable Newsletter Template
Design your newsletter once in the drag & drop editor and save it as your own template. “Create your own template” is listed on every plan, so the smaller choice of ready-made templates on Free matters less once you have your own layout. Keep the footer block in place: MailerLite’s help page says the footer usually holds the unsubscribe link, and a campaign cannot be sent without one. The MailerLite logo stays on Free plan emails; removing it is listed on Comfort and Power.
Step 4: Set Up a Short Welcome Sequence
Start with one automation that welcomes new subscribers, and keep it within the Free plan’s 5 steps. The automation page lists joining a group and completing a form among the available triggers, and sending an email among the actions. How many emails fit depends on how the builder counts delays and conditions as steps, which the pricing page does not spell out, so build the sequence in your account and check the count there. A follow-up path with more than 5 steps, or more than 3 automations running at once, needs Comfort.
Step 5: Let the Tool Handle Unsubscribes and Bounces
Stop editing the list by hand after each send. According to MailerLite’s help pages, a person who unsubscribes is moved out of the active list at once and is no longer sent newsletters or included in automations. A hard bounce removes the address from the active list automatically, and a soft bounce does so after three in a row. One billing detail to know: unsubscribed contacts who were active at any point in the current billing period still count toward your subscriber limit until the period resets.
Step 6: Read the Report Before Writing the Next Issue
After each campaign, check three numbers: opens, clicks and unsubscribes. The reports page shows these for every campaign, and the click map shows which links and buttons were used. Comparative reporting is listed on every plan; use it to compare campaigns and see which subject or topic did better. If you want a report for a date range of your choice or an export to share, those are listed on Comfort and Power.
How Much Does MailerLite Cost for a Small List?
It is free up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month; above that, Comfort starts at $12 per month billed monthly for up to 500 subscribers. According to MailerLite’s official pricing page:
| Plan | Price shown for up to 500 subscribers | Monthly emails | What it means for this workflow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (up to 250 subscribers) | 2,500 | 3 active forms, 3 active automations of up to 5 steps, 2 seats. No unsubscribe page builder, no auto resend, and no email support (the plan card lists community support). |
| Comfort | $12 per month billed monthly; $10.80 per month billed annually ($129.60 per year) | 5,000 | 10 active forms, 50 active automations of up to 100 steps, 3 seats. Adds full newsletter templates, removal of the MailerLite logo, the unsubscribe page builder, auto resend and email support. |
| Power | $25 per month billed monthly; $22.50 per month billed annually ($270.00 per year) | Unlimited | Unlimited forms, automations and seats. Adds multiple automation triggers and 24/7 live chat support. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Listed for 200K+ subscribers. |
The paid prices above are the ones shown for up to 500 subscribers; for a larger list, choose your subscriber count on the pricing page to see your own figure. On Free, 2,500 emails equals ten sends to a full list of 250 only if nothing else goes out; automation emails count toward the same monthly limit. MailerLite’s help page on the Free plan says that when an account passes 250 subscribers, sending campaigns, running automations and adding subscribers are paused until you upgrade, so plan the move before a growing list reaches that number.
When Is MailerLite Not the Right Fit?
MailerLite is a weaker match when your list is already past the Free allowance and budget is the main concern, when you need help by email from day one, or when the newsletter itself is the product.
- You have more than 250 subscribers and want to pay nothing. The Free plan stops at 250, so compare the Comfort price for your list size with other tools before moving.
- You want email support without paying. The Free plan card lists community support; email support is listed on Comfort and Power.
- Your newsletter is a publication you want to grow and earn from. Sending paid newsletters in MailerLite is listed on Comfort and Power, not on Free, so compare it with a newsletter publishing platform such as beehiiv before choosing.
- You sell online courses and need launch emails tied to purchases. See our guide to automating course launch emails with Kit.
- You need receipts, password resets or other system emails. MailerLite’s pricing table points to a separate product, MailerSend, for transactional email.
FAQ
Short answers to the plan questions small businesses ask before moving a list, based on MailerLite’s pricing and help pages.
How many subscribers does the MailerLite Free plan allow?
Up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails. When an account passes 250 subscribers, MailerLite’s help page says sending, automations and adding subscribers are paused until you upgrade.
Does MailerLite remove unsubscribed people automatically?
Yes. The help pages say unsubscribed recipients are removed from the active list as soon as they unsubscribe and are no longer sent newsletters or included in automations. Hard bounces and spam complaints are also removed from the active list automatically.
Can I import my spreadsheet into MailerLite?
Yes. The import page accepts CSV or TXT files and rows copied from Excel, and removes duplicate addresses. Import only people who have agreed to receive your emails, and remove past opt-outs from the sheet first.
Can I send automated emails on the Free plan?
Yes, within limits. Free allows 3 active automations with up to 5 steps each. Comfort raises this to 50 automations of up to 100 steps.
Does the Free plan show the MailerLite logo on emails?
The pricing table lists “Remove MailerLite logo” on Comfort and Power, not on Free, so expect the logo on Free plan emails.
Summary
A spreadsheet-and-mailbox newsletter fails at the list, not at the writing: addresses are copied by hand, opt-outs are missed and nothing is measured. Importing the list once, adding a signup form, saving one template, running a short welcome sequence and reading the report after each send removes the manual work. MailerLite covers this on its Free plan for up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails; plan for Comfort when the list grows past 250, when you need more than 3 automations or 5 steps, or when you want email support and your own unsubscribe page.
Next step: Start with MailerLite’s free plan and move your next newsletter out of the spreadsheet.
Product features, plan limits, and prices change over time. Always confirm current details on the official MailerLite website before making a purchase decision.
